'Tea for Three' to be performed at the Goshen Library

The Off-Broadway hit, "Tea for Three: Lady Bird, Pat, & Betty," will be presented at the Goshen Public Library on Sunday, April 26, at 3 p.m.

Written by Eric H. Weinberger and Elaine Bromka and starring the Emmy Award-winning Ms. Bromka, this one-woman show is an intimate portrait of three First Ladies -- a behind-the-scenes look at Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, and Betty Ford. Particularly pertinent in an era of heightened politics, "Tea for Three" humanizes the political scene with a story both witty and deeply moving.

The play explores what it is like for a woman when her husband becomes the president of the United States and she is suddenly thrust into the spotlight. We discover each woman at a threshold moment in her life, and learn the personal cost of what Pat Nixon called "the hardest unpaid job in the world."

A delicately layered gallery of portraits, the play draws the audience in with humorous and poignant insights into three remarkable women facing their final days in the White House. "Tea for Three" has been critically acclaimed for its blend of humor and passion, with The New York Times observing that "even silences are filled with emotion."

Elaine Bromka has had a long and rewarding career in film, television, Broadway, and off-Broadway. Her film work includes "Uncle Buck" (playing Cindy, the mom), "In the Family" and "Without a Trace." Television work includes Girls, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, ER, Providence, Dharma & Greg, Sisters, all the Law and Order series, Stella on Days of our Lives, and the Emmy Award-winning :Playing for Time" with Vanessa Redgrave and "Catch a Rainbow," for which Bromka herself won an Emmy.

She starred opposite Rich Little in The Presidents for PBS, where she portrayed eight First Ladies. Intrigued by their stories, Ms. Bromka went on to co-write with Eric H. Weinberger this one-woman show.

"These were women of intelligence and grit who suddenly found themselves in a fishbowl," Bromka observed. "I realized I wanted to tell the story from their point of view."

This event is free, but registration is required. Register online at goshenpubliclibrary.org, call 294-6606, or register in person at the Goshen Public Library, 366 Main St., Goshen.